ABSTRACT
This chapter offers an interpretation of how Korean industrial agglomeration policies have been developed and examines the potential and limitation of new innovative cluster policies to establish successful regional innovation system. It begins with the theoretical background of innovation clusters and the historical trajectory of industrial agglomeration policies in Korea. The chapter presents a review of the contents of cluster polices after a new administration took office in 2003. Potential problems that may be caused by industrial innovative cluster policies are discussed. Innovative cluster policies aim to improve regional economies by encouraging physical co-location among local firms and building formal and informal networks. Within the context of Korean government policy before the 1980s industrial complexes were just the agglomerations of production activities. In addition to the establishment of the industrial complexes pertaining to production functions, local high-technology industrial complexes have been established since the late 1980s.
